3 months in, here are the biggest things I like/dislike about Israetel’s program…
LIKE: It’s intelligently designed in terms of exercise selection, linear progression, & deloads
DISLIKE: The intensity is lacking
For most workouts, you aren’t even coming close to failure. I guess some would say that’s a good thing, but I love feeling the workout. I don’t need to destroy myself but also don’t like ending my lift with absolutely no sweat. There has to be a middle ground.
I’m considering modifying the program by keeping the exercises and progression the same, but increasing the intensity – for example, on 3 RIR workouts, just take 1 set to failure; on 2 RIR workouts, take 2 to failure; and on 1 RIR, take 3 sets to failure.
Thoughts? Should I just stick with the way he lays it out?
How about the dude that not only made it to that level but then also when on to get his MD and is a neurosurgeon?
Myron Rolle took a year off from college football at Florida State to be a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and then went to medical school after a brief NFL career. He doesn’t shy away from challenges, and now he’s facing a big one.
A neurosurgery resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, Rolle has been on the front lines in facing the coronavirus pandemic.
First, thanks for such a long log of your TRT journey! I’m likely going to start soon and it’s helpful getting these insights. You’ve definitely made some good progress.
Regarding your training program, I would say you shouldn’t be feeling dead or like you’ve hit the wall at the end of each session, except by the time you reach Weeks 4-5 when you’re hitting RPE 9-10. Also, fatigue is not necessarily a sign of a good workout. One of the main objectives of periodization is to try to make sure you don’t plateau. It’s possible your starting RPE/intensity is too low, and that’s why you don’t feel like you’re working hard enough. As long as week over week you’re adding weight to the bar and are seeing positive visual changes you’re probably doing things right!
Welcome, brother! Happy to log my journey. There’s no way anyone will read through all of this, lol, but hopefully some of the posts will pop up in searches and help people as they figure their own situations out. I haven’t solved this TRT thing for myself yet, but 15 months in, I’ve learned a lot, thanks to the guys who generously educate me here. What’s your plan for starting up?
It sounds like you have a lot of knowledge of RP — have you run it before?
I agree with you on fatigue, but do think you should feel it somewhat. I don’t want to be overtaxed but do like feeling some degree of exertion; a good workout does a lot for the mind too. I also just don’t see any bodybuilders saying, “for this workout, I stopped all sets 3 reps short of failure.” They all seem to at least flirt with the failure line for some sets.
Insane. Can I have some of those genes for my kids? lol
My sister in law got an mba from north western while taking time off from med school and is now a urologist. I thought that was impressive but that guy is at another level
Personally, I think taking anything to failure is always a mistake. Close, okay. Actual fail - never. I like to feel like there was probably one more in the tank. Feeling sore is not an indication of anything really, but you can “Feel” it when you have pushed the CNS enough and you are running down, at which point a deload or break is good. Try just upping the weight a little, a higher percent of 1 RM will get you what you want without training to fail.
True, she has a f ton of student loan debt for sure. But will be starting at about $300K once she finishes her residency… though she’s barely made anything up until now and she’s early 30’s, so yeah… long time to wait but she should be making some bacon soon.
Welcome, brother! Happy to log my journey. There’s no way anyone will read through all of this, lol, but hopefully some of the posts will pop up in searches and help people as they figure their own situations out. I haven’t solved this TRT thing for myself yet, but 15 months in, I’ve learned a lot, thanks to the guys who generously educate me here. What’s your plan for starting up?
I’ve definitely gotten some useful insights from what I’ve read so far! I’m currently considering doing a consult with Defy. I’m aware of local clinics, but they are more expensive and the reviews are somewhat limited so it’s hard to tell whether or not they really know what they’re doing.
I haven’t run a RP program myself, but I do work with a coach who educates me on the exercise science principles, in addition to providing me with programming. Since working with him, I’ve implemented periodization and regular deloads which have helped me make much more consistent progress, and never feel burned out. In particular, my relative strength has shot up a bit. I’m hitting previous maxes on my big 3, but weigh 15-20 lbs less now! We also switch between mesocycles that are more strength focused and ones that are more hypertrophy focused.
I agree with you on fatigue, but do think you should feel it somewhat. I don’t want to be overtaxed but do like feeling some degree of exertion; a good workout does a lot for the mind too. I also just don’t see any bodybuilders saying, “for this workout, I stopped all sets 3 reps short of failure.” They all seem to at least flirt with the failure line for some sets.
For the compound lifts, I never go to failure until my peak/max-out week of each phase because it can get pretty taxing on the CNS to do that every session. For accessories/isolation moves, I will push it more though.
Defy has worked well for me. You just need to do your own research and have an idea of what you want. There’s no hand-holding. Other providers could do that better but they lack the infrastructure and pricing of Defy. I may change eventually, but almost 2 years in, I am pleased with my decision to go with them.
Great to hear about your lifts! Sounds like an awesome coach. Deloads have been big for me too. We all have too much accumulated stress/fatigue these days.
I work out alone in my garage and don’t have safety bars, so I never actually go to true failure. My idea of “failure” is probably more like 1 RIR, out of necessity.
I’d recommend doing your homework from the beginning, otherwise you’ll likely start with the starter cocktail of T, HCG, and AI. You definitely don’t need an AI and may not need HCG either.
Do you have labs? We can give you guidance. Defy is willing to work with you and listen to recommendations. They’ve prescribed everything I’ve wanted and dropped the AI when I asked them to. Only difference is I take my dose slightly higher than they prescribe.
That’s so wild, man. Really hope that guy gets better soon. I can only imagine how he’s feeling. Devastating.
I wonder if the same outcome would’ve manifested at a lower dose. I was prescribed 100 but considering taking something even lower, like 50-75, at least for an experimental phase. That may reduce the positive effects but could also (I’m hoping) mitigate the risk of Deca-dick.
Thanks - that’s good to know! I don’t want to hijack your thread, so happy to send you an e-mail if you’d prefer to respond there, but labs so far as follows:
I’m still pending the full report (Reverse T3, Estradiol, and a few others), but the info I have so far doesn’t show anything out of range/unusual.
Total T - 415 ng / dL and 543 ng / dL (Two most recent readings, about a month apart, only got a full panel the second time.)
Free T - 14.0 pg/ML
SHBG - 34.5 nmol/L
Prolactin - 15.8 ng/ML
TSH - 3.2 uIU/ML
T3 - 2.1 pg/ML
T4 - 1.35 ng/DL
DHEA - 204.0 ug/dL
LH - 2.8 mIU/mL
WBC - 3.6 x10E3/uL
RBC - 4.89 x10E/uL
Hemaglobin - 15.2 g/dL
Hematocrit - 45.4%
Glucose - 86 mg/dL
IGF-1 - 188 ng/mL
